Police presence to shrink at student fundraisers

A deal between the University and its police department will help student organizations save money when hosting fundraisers in Kogan Plaza and the Marvin Center.

Starting Thursday, a new policy will allow student organizations to host fundraisers without hiring University Police officers, as long as each transaction costs less than than $10.

Under the existing policy, student groups must pay $80 for one officer when money – more than $5 in the Marvin Center and more than $1 outdoors – changes hands. If two or more officers are required, the cost is $160 per officer.

Officers are also mandatory at events with more than 100 people, or where alcohol is served. The number of officers needed is decided by the University scheduling office, which splits the cost of the first officer.

“Ten dollars is a fair ceiling,” Dylan Pyne, chair of the Marvin Center Governing Board, said. Pyne said student organizations have for years called for the elimination of the fee, because it sets back small-scale fundraisers that do not make enough money to offset the charge.

University police captain Michael Glaubach, Managing Director of the Marvin Center David Synan and Assistant Vice President for Events and Venues Michael Peller spent the last three months vetting the idea with their staffs.

“GWPD and the Marvin Center are happy to support the efforts of student groups while they are raising the funds and promoting their ideals and values,” Glaubach said.

UPD officers in charge of the security within the Marvin Center will make more frequent trips outside when there are events in Kogan Plaza or the H Street Terrace to ensure safety, Pyne said.

“[The new policy] also gives groups the opportunity to raise their prices,” Aria Varasteh, the Student Association’s vice president of student activities, said. In the past, he said, student organizations have kept prices low so they didn’t have to hire an officer.

Varasteh said he doesn’t think groups will face greater risks with their cashboxes because regularly patrolling UPD officers are still deterrents.

“I don’t think there’s a reason for an officer to stand around Marvin Center or H Street for hours and hours because you’re having a bake sale,” Varasteh said.